The Tribune

By RASHAD ROLLE

Tribune Staff Reporter

rrolle@tribunemedia.net

IN what one UK newspaper has called an "unprecedented rebuke," the National Art Gallery of The Bahamas has criticised the British Council for distancing itself from a Bahamian show it commissioned.

The British Council specialises in international cultural and educational opportunities.

According to The Guardian newspaper, the show was commissioned for an arts organisation in Venice.

"But according to the NAGB," the newspaper reported, "the UK body took a unilateral decision weeks before publication to remove its logo and texts from the document, while providing little or no explanation for the decision other than to say that the material was 'too political.'

"Officials in London are understood to have been particularly concerned about a section of an essay by Professor Ian Bethel-Bennett, a Bahamian academic, which deals with local concerns about the growth of Chinese influence in the Caribbean state saying: 'As Downtown Nassau falls into China's lap.'

The report continued: "The British Council has faced accusations of censorship in the past over its anxiety about offending the Chinese government, which has been described as a 'chill on artists freedom.'

"Following the British Council's removal of the texts and its logo, the NAGB moved last month to ensure that the catalogue and all of the essays would be published, saying it would be naive to expect the conversation or writings around the artworks would not be 'uncomfortable, confrontational or provocative.'"

The report quotes NAGB Director Amanda Coulson who wrote to the council's board saying: "A general feeling of being silenced and exploited is the consensus. How this looks from our viewpoint is that a white Scotsman is sanctioned to talk about slavery - and is considered courageous and daring, fêted at the most prestigious international art event - but black people should stay silent because their feelings are too raw, too aggressive, and too 'political.'

"That the British Council feels that it is wise to distance itself from these voices at such a time, shows a remarkable lack of compassion, care or - frankly - a strategic PR plan."

According to the article, the British Council's head of exhibitions, Gemma Hollington, apologised for what happened.

"It's clear that the artists feel upset by how we've approached this and we genuinely regret that," she said. "With hindsight, we could have handled this differently. From our perspective, the process was not us unilaterally telling them what to do, but working to make sure the essays published in full while not affecting our non-political status. We continued to discuss with the NAGB throughout, and are still regularly in contact."